Resilient wheel.



W. F. & W. E. SMITH.

RESILIBNT WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED APR.15,19C8.

Patented Dec. 29,1908.

- the county of St. Lawrence and State of New wheel. of that class which employs nonrequires.

UNKTE s WALTER F. SMITH, or WATERTOWN,

AND WILLIAM E. SMITH, 0F GOUVERNEUR, NEW YORK.

rnr sic.

RESILIENT WIIEEL.

are. 907,904..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908 Application filed. April 15, 1908. Serial No. ezmoa To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, WALTER F. SMITH United States, and residents, respectively, of Watertown, in the county of Jefferson and State of New York, and of Gouverneur, in

York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient Wheels, of which the following is a s ecification.

This invention re ates to improvements in resilient wheels, designed for use inconnection with vehicles generally, and the inven-- tion relates particularly to a wheel of novel construction for employment on automobiles and like conveyances.

The object of the invention is to provide a inflated tires, thereby doing away with the short-lived. pneumatic and solid rubber-tires commonly used on the wheels of motor and other vehicles.

A further object of theinvention is to provide a tire which is sim le, reliable and strong, and which also em odies the desirable features of resilience, economy in production, and a long wearing-life.

The invention .consists principally of a wheel having a concave rim, in whichis fitted a coil of heavy steel wire, closely wound or coiled, and applied to the rim in the manner to form an endless-peripheral coil, having a substantially clear interior throughout its length. Different gages of wire, and large or small coilsbeing employed, accordingly as the nature or condition of the vehicle The invention further consists of novel and simple means for eflectua'lly securing or joinin the ends of the coil, so as to produce an en less tire, without destroying the resilience or rendering the coil liable to break apart.

The invention further consists of simple and powerful means for clamping the tire to the rim of the wheel to prevent displacement or cree ing. v y

To t is end the invention consists in the combination, construction and arrangement of the parts of the wheel, as hereinafter fully described,'illustrated by the accompanying drawing, and then pointed out the claims.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a side; view ofv the wheel, the same being partly in elevation and partly in section, showingthe various features of our invention Fig. 2 is Wal {or adjustably connecting and 2.2 m" Fig. 1, showing particularly the methodiof rigidly connecting the abutting ends of. the coil. tire; also tion and arrangement of the tire clamping means. Figs. 3 respectively, a lan and side elevation, of. the parts em loy for binding and'securing the ends of t e wile comprising the tire. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the wedge or key employed for closing the opening between, and supportingthe inturned ends of the coil. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail, showing the oppositely hooked or bent ends of the" wire of the coil; also showing the wedge or filler in operative osition. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view 0 a portion of the clamping band or hoop, showing the method for locking the free ends of the same.

Similar referencecharacters represent corresponding parts in the several views.

Heretofore coil tires have been devised for use on wheels of various vehicles, but so far as we are aware, none have ever been successfully employed in regular service, princi-v pally because of the great difficulty in arriv- 1ng at a practical and effective method of securing'the ends of the wire to make an endless coil, and also effecting a positive clamping of the wire tire to'the wheel'rim to prevent creeping and displacement.

The present invention has for its object the com lete remedying of all the defects and wea esses of the devices and methods ofthe past, relating to resilient wheelsof the class. T he following is a detail description of our im roved wheel:

n the drawing, we have showna wheel having a hub 2, and a series of spokes 3, which support and hold in operative position a concave rim 4, in which is seated a tire 5, consisting-of an endless coil of wire. The tire 5 preferably compri'ses'a heavy steel wire in one iece,.wound in close coils, to a diameter to t the peripheral cavit or groove of the rim. -'lhe tires maybe coi ed to different diameters and may consist of any suitable" gage according 'to requirement s, but referably constructed out of the best qua ity of spring steel wire. .In making the tires, the wire is first cciled'in a straight section or part and then out to a length suitable for forming the same into a circle or hoop which will snugly fit and fill the rim. The wheel may be constructed according to any suitable showing. the 1088;?

, convexed and formed to the same curvaturev as the coils of the tire, so-that when the wedge will prevent the tire from parting at this preferably made' of" steel or other suitable plied, and the u be e tightened u by using a together, the wedge 7 should be inserted by forcing it into the opening between the hooks plan, provided the rim has an outwardly fac- 1ng groove not less than 90 arc, in order to afford a proper seat for the tire. It is impor tant in installing the tires for service, to crowd as many as possible of the coils, which comprise the tire,'into the hollowriin, so as to completely fill the same, allowing no space between the coils. 'lhe free ends ofthe coil are then bent inwardly in op osite directions to form spiral hoo s 6. M en the ends of the tire are brought together as shown in Fig. 1, these hooks are brought closely together as illustrated in higs. 2 and 6. M hen the ends of the coil are thus brought together the two hooks are disposed in the same plane and 0ccupy the space of asingle coil, leaving a V- shaped transverse opening in the center of the tread, into w hich is fitted a wed cor filler 7 of peculiar shape, having the thic ess of a single wire of the coil, and having its top end is placed in position that portion of the tire appears thesame as the rest. 'lhe curved side edges of the wedge or key 7 are concaved to conform to and fit the inner-facing edges of the hooks 6.

8, 8 represent a pair of clamping parts,

metal and formed substantially alike, as shown. lhese clamping parts are disposed inside 0f the coil, one on each side of the hooks 6, as shown. 'lhese clamping parts are held in place by bolts 9 which preferably pass loosely through clamp-8, then through the hooks 6, after which the bolts enter threaded holes formed in the clamp 8, and by means ofwhich all of these parts are drawn and held tightly together. In practies the clamps 8 and 8 are first attached to one of the hooks 6' by means of one of the bolts. 'l he opposite end of the coil is then brought into position, the hook bein placed betw'een'the clam s and the other olt apwrench which may be inserted etween the coils opposite the heads of the bolts. After the ends of the coil are thus securely fastened 6 and also between the clamps 8 and 8. Vi hen this has been done the clamps 8 and 8, the Wedge7, and the hooks 6 should all be brazed or welded together as one part. This coin l'etes the formation 'ofthe endless tire. 'lhe ra zing of these partsis an essential feature of the oining of'the ends ofthe coil and point, in case the bolts become loosened or etached by the jar and vibration of the wheel.

In order to securely fasten our tire to the rimof a wheel, so as to prevent displacement or creeping while the Wheel is-in service, we

provide a novel and simple clamping band or eozeoe member 10, preferably made of round steel or iron rod in the form shown in the drawin This tire clam should be made to a lengt 1 greater thantlie inner'circumference of the tire and one end should be formed flat and tapered off to a thin point, as 11. The other end 12 should be left round and threaded for a suitable distance to facilitate connecting the two ends and drawing the band tightly] against the'inner side of the coil, thereby c amping and holding the tire rigidly against the bottom of the rim cavity.

13 represents a perforated lug preferably formed integrally on the outer side of the tapered portion ofth band 10, a short distance from the oint of the same, through which the threa ed end of the clamp passes.

15 15 represents nuts fitted to clamping member 10, to draw threaded end 12 throu h the lug 13. The tapering of one end of tie clamp 10 ermits the band to be set so as to bear tight y upon each and all of the coils of the tire, thus preventing any of the coils near the point where the ends of the clamp overlap, from springing away from" the rim while the tire is in operation. The clam ing hoop 10 should be inserted in the coi and the threaded end inserted through the In 13 and the nuts screwed onto the end- 12 a s tort distance before the ends of the coil are con led.

The clamp 10 should be left in that com ition until the tire is placed in the rim and then the nuts should be screwed up tight. The overlapping ends of the clamp 10 are preferably disposed diametrically opposite the couplers 8 and 8 so as to counterbalance each other.

Practical tests and u'setof our tires have shown, that it is absolutely necessary for the successful operation of wheels equipped with this improvement, that the coil tire be securely and immovably clamped to the rim of the wheel. This end we accomplish by first arran ing the tire so that the exact number of coi s required to fill the rim are crowded.

into the groove and then by a plying our improved clamping-band and rawing the same up tight, as described.

When our tires are made and applied as hereinshown and described they impart to a vehicle practically the same degree of resilience as the well known solid or inflated rub- 'ber tires, because, when the close and even coils as first made, are afterwards formed into circular or endless parts and fitted to the wheel rims,-the coils remain tightly together on the inner circumference of the tire, while at the peripheral side, the coils will be spread a greater or less distance apart owing to the diameter or curvature of the wheel. The effect of this arrangement and feature of the coils of the tire is such that, as the wheel rolls forward or backward, a number of coils adj acent to the portion of the wheel which bears on the round will become closed up by reason of t e weight of the vehicle, and the force 30 of per 45 within said coil, a

of the driving, and as the vehicle travels over mdulating on ion h courses, the tension of the spring tire, w 'ch at all. times tends tov .kee the .individual coils spread apart, will' yie d enough to' impart the equivalent of the. resilience experienced by one when riding in" a car eruipped with a common rubber tire. In a dition to the features last described our tirespossess other superior advantages not found in any other tires, particularly,in

that they are comparatively, indestructible and insure awearing life many-times greater than the rubber tires in common use.

It is obvious that some changes or modifications of the parts may be made, without departin from the spiritof our invention,"

and wet erefore donotrestrict ourselves to the precise construction and arrangement as herein shown and described.

2o Having thus describedourinvention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let-,

ters Patent, is-

i 1. A reslllent wheel, having aconcave rim provided with a tire consisting of a continu ous coil of wire, the ends of said wire bent inwardly in opposite directions to form spiral hooks, adapte when the ends of the coils are brought into abutting contact to stand in the same lane and spaced slightlyapart, a pair orated clampingemembers disposed in said coil spaced apart sufiiciently to receive said hooks, a 1pair-of threaded bolts passing through said c hooks and clamping-members together, and

a wedge-dis osed in the s ace between said hooks and aso between said clamping-members and said bolts.

2. The combination, with a wheel having a peripherall concaved rim provided with a tire of coi ed wire in one part, of a hook,

formed on-each end of said coiled wire, the said hooks adapted when the coiled wire is formed into an endless tire, to face 0 positely and stand in the same transverse lpair of clamping-p ates, one disposed on eac side of the said hooks, the said plates having perforations correamping-members, to bind saidane &

sponding tothe bi ht'of each of said hooks, anda pair-oi 'threa :bolts to hold said clamping-plates and hooks together, thereby formingfanj-endless' tirev out of said coiled wire.

.'3.=: 'Awheel rim having an outwardly facing grooveprovided with ;a' continuous coil of -w1re 'having its'ends bent to form inwardly projec'tin hooks; the said hooks, when. the coil is co edintoa tire, disposed .in the same plane in a'manner to .leave'a V-shaped openmg or gaisin' the periphery of the the between said. hoo a Wedge adapted totightly 'fit and fillsaid opening or gap and form with said hooks a continuous strand or coil of the tire, and means, comprising a pair o'f perforate'd'clampzplates and a pairof bolts for connecting an holding said hooks and said wedge in operative position.

groove provided .with a continuous coil of wire having means, comprising {ft pair of perforated clampperforated lug, the round end threaded and capable of being'inserted through the lug,

and a air of nuts fitted to the threaded end of the and for drawing and-holding the tire tightly against the rim of the whee In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

' WALTER F. SMITH.

v WILLIAM E. SMITH. Witnesses:

WM. F. CA'NOUGH,

HARRY DE WALLAon.

4; A wheel rim having an outwardly facing its ends bent to form inwardly projecting hooks, the said hooks, when the coil iscoi'e eriphery of the tire between v 

